Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the high-profile plaintiffs lawyer who pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to bribe a Mississippi judge, will likely learn his fate Friday, when he is scheduled to be sentenced for his crime.

But the sentencing won't necessarily put an end to the legal woes of Mr. Scruggs, 62 years old, who gained wealth and notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s in massive litigation against the tobacco and asbestos industries.

Mr. Scruggs and several colleagues, including his son, Zach Scruggs, were indicted last November for participating in a scheme to pay a state judge $40,000 in exchange for a favorable ruling in a $26.5 million legal-fee dispute. All five of the defendants ultimately pleaded guilty to various charges. None have been sentenced, though a former colleague of Mr. Scruggs, Sidney Backstrom, is also scheduled to be sentenced Friday. Zach Scruggs is slated to be sentenced on July 2.